Niue (2001) | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | none; note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 14 villages each with its own village council whose members are elected and serve three-year terms | 6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
0-14 years: 27.1% (male 16,208/female 15,621)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male 40,287/female 37,883) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,280/female 4,255) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes, taro, yams, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes; pigs, poultry, beef cattle | bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices, small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, fish |
Airports | 1 (2000 est.) | 6 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
260 sq km land: 260 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km)
land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC | twice the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered. The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966 to 2,100 in 2000) with substantial emigration to New Zealand. | Disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, Saint Vincent was ceded to the latter in 1783. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 16.34 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $94.6 million
expenditures: $85.8 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Alofi | Kingstown |
Climate | tropical; modified by southeast trade winds | tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November) |
Coastline | 64 km | 84 km |
Constitution | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act) | 27 October 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Niue former: Savage Island |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Currency | New Zealand dollar (NZD) | - |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 6 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $167.2 million (2000) |
Dependency status | self-governing in free association with New Zealand; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) | the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) | chief of mission: Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN
chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6736 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | none | joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | $8.3 million (1995) | $47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998) |
Economy - overview | Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. The island in recent years has suffered a serious loss of population because of migration of Niueans to New Zealand. Efforts to increase GDP include the promotion of tourism and a financial services industry. | Economic growth in this lower-middle-income country hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector and has moved to adopt international regulatory standards. Saint Vincent is also a large producer of marijuana and is being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.8 million kWh (1999) | 84.82 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 3 million kWh (1999) | 91.2 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location near Mutalau settlement 68 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Soufriere 1,234 m |
Environment - current issues | increasing attention to conservationist practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash and burn agriculture | pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Polynesian (with some 200 Europeans, Samoans, and Tongans) | black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7% |
Exchange rates | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.2502 (January 2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8629 (1998), 1.5082 (1997), 1.4543 (1996) | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since NA May 2000) head of government: Premier Sani LAKATANI (since 1 April 1999) cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: Sani LAKATANI elected premier; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister |
Exports | $117,500 (f.o.b., 1989) | NA |
Exports - commodities | canned coconut cream, copra, honey, passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts | bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets |
Exports - partners | NZ 89%, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia | UK 33.5%, Barbados 13.1%, Saint Lucia 11.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 9.9%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.3%, US 5.3%, Grenada 5.3%, Dominica 4.1% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large one on a blue disk in the center and a smaller one on each arm of the bold red cross | three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.5 million (1997 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 10%
industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,800 (1997 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 0.7% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 02 S, 169 52 W | 13 15 N, 61 12 W |
Geography - note | one of world's largest coral islands | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is comprised of 32 islands and cays |
Highways | total:
234 km paved: 86 km unpaved: 148 km (106 km of which is access and plantation road) (2001) |
total: 829 km
paved: 580 km unpaved: 249 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation |
Imports | $4.1 million (c.i.f., 1989) | NA |
Imports - commodities | food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels |
Imports - partners | NZ 59%, Fiji 20%, Japan 13%, Samoa, Australia, US | US 37.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 21.3%, UK 10.5% (2004) |
Independence | on 19 October 1974, Niue became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand | 27 October 1979 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | -0.9% (1997 est.) |
Industries | tourism, handicrafts, food processing | food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch |
Infant mortality rate | NA deaths/1,000 live births | total: 14.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.09 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (1995) | -0.4% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, ESCAP (associate), FAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, WHO, WMO | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 10 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) |
Labor force | 450 (1992 est.) | 67,000 (1984 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | most work on family plantations; paid work exists only in government service, small industry, and the Niue Development Board | agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
19% permanent crops: 8% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 19% other: 50% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 17.95%
permanent crops: 17.95% other: 64.1% (2001) |
Languages | Polynesian closely related to Tongan and Samoan, English | English, French patois |
Legal system | English common law | based on English common law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common roll and 14 are village representatives)
elections: last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 9, independents 11 |
unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2001 (next to be held by July 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
NA years male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 73.62 years
male: 71.78 years female: 75.51 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: 95% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.) |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Oceania | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total: 657 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,967,418 GRT/9,041,023 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 112, cargo 366, chemical tanker 18, combination ore/oil 1, container 24, liquefied gas 4, livestock carrier 6, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 19, petroleum tanker 29, refrigerated cargo 48, roll on/roll off 22, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 554 (Australia 2, Bangladesh 5, Barbados 1, Belgium 1, British 5, Bulgaria 17, China 115, Congo 1, Croatia 7, Cuba 1, Czech Republic 1, Denmark 12, Egypt 2, Estonia 19, France 12, Germany 8, Greece 99, Guyana 3, Hong Kong 10, Iceland 11, India 6, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 3, Italy 18, Kenya 4, Latvia 9, Lebanon 6, Lithuania 3, Monaco 4, Netherlands 7, Nigeria 3, Norway 19, Pakistan 4, Poland 1, Puerto Rico 1, Romania 1, Russia 20, Saudi Arabia 3, Serbia & Montenegro 1, Singapore 2, Slovenia 6, South Korea 3, Spain 2, Sweden 1, Switzerland 7, Syria 6, Trinidad & Tobago 1, Tunisia 2, Turkey 16, Ukraine 6, UAE 21, United Kingdom 10, United States 24) (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand | - |
Military branches | Police Force | no regular military forces; Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA |
National holiday | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) | Independence Day, 27 October (1979) |
Nationality | noun:
Niuean(s) adjective: Niuean |
noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s)
adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian |
Natural hazards | typhoons | hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat |
Natural resources | fish, arable land | hydropower, cropland |
Net migration rate | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population | -7.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Niue People's Action Party or NPP [Sani LAKATANI] | National Reform Party or NRP [Joel MIGUEL]; New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Ken BOYEA]; Progressive Labor Party or PLP [leader NA]; United People's Movement or UPM [Adrian SAUNDERS]; Unity Labor Party or ULP [Ralph GONSALVES] (formed by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 2,124 (July 2001 est.) | 117,534 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 0.5% (2001 est.) | 0.27% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; offshore anchorage only | Kingstown |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 1,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Ekalesia Niue (Niuean Church - a Protestant church closely related to the London Missionary Society) 75%, Latter-Day Saints 10%, other 15% (mostly Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist) | Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
primitive system domestic: single-line telephone system connects all villages on island international: NA |
general assessment: adequate system
domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines international: country code - 1-784; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; new SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and to Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia |
Telephones - main lines in use | 376 (1991) | 27,300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1991) | 10,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 1 (plus three repeaters) (2004) |
Terrain | steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau | volcanic, mountainous |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 1.85 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 15% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |